When you have a great client—one who responds quickly to your requests or gives clear guidelines on what he or she wants—you want to let them know how much you appreciate them.  This builds a strong bond with your client and may earn you repeat business or even a client referral.

What’s the best way to show appreciation and nurture this client relationship?  You could provide them a free service or product from your company, but that essentially costs you money and seems counter-productive to your bottom line!  You could send them a gift; that could get expensive quickly!  So, what can you do?  Here are five ways to show your appreciation to client without costing you anything.

1. Mention them in your social media posts.  Not only does that help your client by opening them up to your connections, but chances are they will respond with a “Thank You” and you will get a mention in their posts.  Ultimately, you get exposed to their list, too.  This is a win-win situation for everyone, and, most importantly, is not only easy to do, but costs you almost nothing in time or effort.

In using social media, you could potentially earn new clients through free exposure to their social media lists and followers.  It also works as a bonus for you making you appear to be someone others want to do business with.  Are your social media connections possibility interested in what this client does?  You can use this as a marketing tool to offer a resource and knowledge to your followers.  A social media post could generate quality leads for your client which in turn could generate more business for you!

2.  Refer them to someone else and make the glowing introduction through email. This works well for two different reasons.  Initially, you are helping build the client’s reputation and exposure through a specific referral.  The client will probably be grateful for the help and the possibility of growing his or her own client list.  Secondly, the e-mail provides you a platform to “brag on” your client—whether that be on a professional level promoting their business, service, or product or on a more personal level touting their reliability, communication skills, or professionalism.

3.  Feature them in an ezine or newsletter if their service or product is something that appeals to your audience.  If it is not right for your audience, feature YOUR WORK with them. Say, for example, “I designed this webpage.  Take a look…” Then you can refer people to your customers on the back end and, as a bonus, showcase your own work for your audience.

This can be especially useful if there is something you can show or feature in your ezine—a website, a link to a press release, a new product.  This shows your reader that this client takes their business seriously by hiring you to do a professional job and illustrates your own abilities.  It also shows readers the types of projects YOU do and the types of clients you represent.  The client, in most cases, feels unique in knowing that you enjoyed their project and their company enough to let it represent what you do.

4.  Don’t be a tasker, be a strategist. Make your customer know you are part of their team by coming up with suggestions, giving them new ideas that will improve their business—maybe a strategy that you have seen work with other customers.  Send them a website that relates to their business or that they may simply be interested in, or send them articles you find that relate to them. Ultimately, make them know you think of them when you are “off the clock.”

5.  Send handwritten thank you cards, birthday cards or “just because” cards.  This may not be exactly free, but it is pretty close!  It costs you a little time and a stamp.  Yes, this can be rather time-consuming, but never underestimate the power of the personal note.  It is a venue for you to write, in private, exactly what you want.  You can claim that they are your favorite client ever without alienating anyone else!  The handwritten note sends the powerful message that you took the time to sit down and write a personal message—not an e-mail, not a text–but a real letter.

You may choose to keep the client relationship viable by checking in every few months or use one of these tips to maintain the relationship. Whether you utilize these strategies during the working relationship with a client or as a follow, they are all effective ways to show your appreciation to an outstanding client.